Opera - A 'Project Climax' Subcategory - 11 CDs

Choral Music
An opera is a dramatic stage composition for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, usually in two or more acts. Opera differs from other forms of classical music in that it merges theatrical performance with musical prowess. In a successful opera production, acting, directing, singing, conducting, and orchestal playing to create a dramatic spectacle that can move audiences to laughter or to tears – sometimes all within the same production.

A typical opera begins with an orchestral prelude or overture, in which we hear previews of the music to come. The story is then presented in a series of recitatives, arias, and choruses. Recitative is a style of singing that is meant to reflect the accents and inflections of ordinary speech. It is usually sung by one person or as a dialogue, and the orchestral accompinament is sparse. The text of a recitative usually contributes to the action of the drama. The text of an aria, on the other hand, usually consists of one character examining at length his or her feelings about a particular character or subject; many of the greatest arias are about love. The aria shows off the singer's skill and is usually lushly orchestrated. Duets, trios, and other small ensemble numbers are similar to arias musically, and their text may be either dramatic or reflective. Finally, choruses feature a large group of singers, often representing a crowd, that enters at particularly dramatic moments. Most opera acts have large choral finales.

Opera was invented around 1600 by a group of Italian intellectuals who believed that the most effective way to present dramatic poetry was to sing it. Within a few decades opera had become phenomenally popular in Italy, and by 1700 it had spread to all corners of Europe. In this period the primary function of opera was to provide a venue for singers to showcase their virtuosity, so operas were filled with long, repetetive arias and dramatic plots were nearly nonexistent. Around 1750 some composers decided that operatic music's real purpose was to serve the poetry and advance the plot; this "opera reform" movement paved the way for the great operas of Mozart, which combine complex dramatic poetry with the composer's genius for drawing musical pictures.

During the nineteenth century operas tended to be either spectacular historical dramas featuring battles and crowd scenes, or tender romantic stories, sometimes comic, sometimes tragic. The two giants of nineteenth-century opera were Giuseppe Verdi in Italy and Richard Wagner in Germany. Verdi's twenty-six operas perfected Italy's long operatic tradition while introducing some nationalist elements, whereas Wagner's revolutionary "music dramas" combined legendary characters and continuous action with experimental harmonies that foreshadowed twentieth-century music. In the twentieth century opera, like all other forms of music, became a medium for new harmonies and styles. Great modern opera composers include Leos Janácek, Richard Strauss, Benjamin Britten, Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, and John Adams.




What to do next
Once you have browsed and read about the recommended albums of this section at Classicalcdguide.com, you can come back here and download the albums that has cought your interest. The albums marked by a red number are the ones I have yet been unable to find anywhere so any help on that matter would be very much appreciated.

If you want more
In case you feel inspired to get more you are welcome to visit the main page of project Climax from where you will have access to a virtual library of quality recordings of classical music. Everything indexed into a variety of categories that should suit everyones taste.

01 - Georges Bizet; Carmen - Sir Thomas Beecham, de Los Angeles, Gedda (EMI 2000) 3 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/34638735/112CDGJLMBCZ.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34635709/112CDGJLMBCZ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34629942/112CDGJLMBCZ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34622984/112CDGJLMBCZ.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34510767/112BDGJLMBCZ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34506819/112BDGJLMBCZ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34503007/112BDGJLMBCZ.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34500150/112ADGJLMBCZ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34497350/112ADGJLMBCZ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34493270/112ADGJLMBCZ.part1.rar

02 - Mozart; Don Giovanni - Carlo Maria Giulini & Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus (EMI 2002) 3 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/32236467/055CRYJYTYTY.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32233770/055CRYJYTYTY.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32231650/055BRYJYTYTY.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32202926/055BRYJYTYTY.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32197821/055BRYJYTYTY.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32179242/055ARYJYTYTY.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32173648/055ARYJYTYTY.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32167930/055ARYJYTYTY.part1.rar

03 - Giuseppe Verdi; La Traviata - Gheorghiu, Sir Georg Solti & CG (Decca 1994) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/34687123/114BTASKIJHR.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34671076/114BTASKIJHR.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34667979/114BTASKIJHR.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34665110/114ATASKIJHR.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34662001/114ATASKIJHR.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34645578/114ATASKIJHR.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34641525/114ATASKIJHR.part1.rar

04 - Richard Wagner; Tristan und Isolde - Fischer-Dieskau, Furtwängler (EMI 2002) 4 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/34776666/116DPOJFRHSH.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34769629/116DPOJFRHSH.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34764546/116CPOJFRHSH.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34756904/116CPOJFRHSH.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34751529/116BPOJFRHSH.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34746535/116BPOJFRHSH.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34737837/116BPOJFRHSH.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34735058/116APOJFRHSH.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34732875/116APOJFRHSH.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34730622/116APOJFRHSH.part1.rar

05 - Giacomo Puccini; La Bohème - Herbert von Karajan & BPO (Decca 1990) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/35184451/123BXDGKHLJJ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/35144080/123BXDGKHLJJ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/35136103/123BXDGKHLJJ.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/35022709/123AXDGKHLJJ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/35017204/123AXDGKHLJJ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/35012908/123AXDGKHLJJ.part1.rar

06 - Dmitri Shostakovich; Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk - Rostropovich & LPO (EMI 2002) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/36076000/166BOKOGDJSF.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36073233/166BOKOGDJSF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36070181/166BOKOGDJSF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36067459/166BOKOGDJSF.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36064234/166AOKOGDJSF.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36061698/166AOKOGDJSF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36059388/166AOKOGDJSF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36057131/166AOKOGDJSF.part1.rar

07 - Henry Purcell; Dido and Aeneas - Baker, Lewis, English Chamber Orchestra (Decca 2000)
http://rapidshare.de/files/34122365/102AMANMDGJF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34112061/102AMANMDGJF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34078573/102AMANMDGJF.part1.rar

08 - Mozart; Die Zauberflöte - Böhm & Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (DG 1997) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/32271780/058BBETOGJSH.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32266614/058BBETOGJSH.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32262331/058BBETOGJSH.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32258816/058BBETOGJSH.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32255391/058ABETOGJSH.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32252075/058ABETOGJSH.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32248666/058ABETOGJSH.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/32245772/058ABETOGJSH.part1.rar

09 - Vincenzo Bellini; Norma - Tullio Serafin & La Scala Chorus and Orchestra (EMI 1998) 3 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/36110672/167CUIAEOEKO.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36106150/167CUIAEOEKO.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36101524/167CUIAEOEKO.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36097357/167BUIAEOEKO.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36091421/167BUIAEOEKO.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36088434/167AUIAEOEKO.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36084503/167AUIAEOEKO.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36079333/167AUIAEOEKO.part1.rar

10 - Gioacchino Rossini; Il Barbiere di Siviglia - Claudio Abbado & LSO (DG 1998) 2 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/34327464/107BSDDFFGFJ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34322877/107BSDDFFGFJ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34319095/107BSDDFFGFJ.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34313536/107ASDDFFGFJ.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34307208/107ASDDFFGFJ.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/34303079/107ASDDFFGFJ.part1.rar

11 - Gounod; Faust - Sutherland, Corelli, Bonynge & LSO (Decca 2002) 3 CDs
http://rapidshare.de/files/36149722/168CCOVJDOFF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36147377/168CCOVJDOFF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36144716/168CCOVJDOFF.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36141906/168BCOVJDOFF.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36138800/168BCOVJDOFF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36135588/168BCOVJDOFF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36132164/168BCOVJDOFF.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36127247/168ACOVJDOFF.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36123029/168ACOVJDOFF.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36118645/168ACOVJDOFF.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/36114895/168ACOVJDOFF.part1.rar